Wednesday, 27 May 2015

Students suffer in power-starved Nigeria

In
the midst of an energy crisis that has seen petrol stations run dry and
major telecommunications companies warn of impending closure,
widespread power cuts are having a dramatic impact on education in
Nigeria.

With no electricity at home or in their classes, students have been
forced to study for end-of-year exams in unusual environments.

When Al Jazeera spoke to one student, Sulaiman Abdulkarim, and his
friends, they were studying under streetlamps on a major highway.

"I am here in order to read my lecture notes because there is no
electricity in our area. Here there is enough electricity. ... We are
facing the practicals of computer but there is no electricity."

Behind him, cars and lorries rush past.

Teachers say students' grades are falling, along with the larger education sector.

"It affects the quality of education they are getting and it also
affects the output coming from the students," Kabiru Sufi, a college
lecturer, told Al Jazeera.

"It has impacted on teaching in such a way that it has affected research."

Africa's biggest oil producer currently imports most of its refined
petroleum and, just last week, the government said electricity
generation hit an all-time low of 1,300MW for a population of 170
million.

It blames sabotage of oil and gas pipelines, as well as an oil workers' strike.

With chronic shortage of petrol and diesel, most places, including hospitals, are finding it difficult to deliver services.

Nigeria's new government, headed by Muhammadu Buhari, will be sworn in in a few days.

The challenges that they face will include corruption, security, infrastructure decay and the current energy crisis